


Dear Emily

by Marina_15



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Developing Friendship, During Canon, F/F, First Kiss, Nonbinary Wyman (Dishonored), Pining, Short One Shot, Takes place during Dishonored 2 and DOTO, potential future relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:28:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29325498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marina_15/pseuds/Marina_15
Summary: Billie neither expected nor wanted to like Emily Kaldwin.--A possible story behind Billie's unfinished letters to Emily in DOTO.
Relationships: Emily Kaldwin/Billie Lurk | Meagan Foster, Mentioned Emily Kaldwin/Wyman
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Dear Emily

Billie neither expected nor wanted to like Emily Kaldwin.

In their youth, Billie and her friends would watch nobles and royalty stagger home from parties drunk on liquor that cost more per glass than the children had possessed their entire lives. Then, of course, there was Deirdre, murdered so young at the hand of Radanis Abele. So jaded was Billie to the supposed “plights” of aristocrats that her involvement in Jessamine Kaldwin’s assassination had scarcely registered to her as something that one might consider wrong.

But that was before Emily. Upon first boarding the _Dreadful Wale_ , the empress had been cold, serious, secretive. She kept to herself except for mealtimes and occasional walks around the ship. However, after the first week or so, Emily began to open up to Billie (or, rather, to Meagan Foster).

“I want to show you something.” Emily appeared in the kitchen one evening, cheeks pink from the cold.

“Okay.” Billie put a hand on her hip and waited.

“You have to come with me.” Emily turned and headed upstairs without checking to see if Billie was following.

Once they were outside on the deck, a light rain pattering on their hair, Emily tilted her head as if calculating something.

“Ready?” She smiled. It might have been the first time Billie saw her do so. She looked so much happier, so much younger.

Billie nodded. “Ready.” For what, she wasn’t sure.

Emily lifted a gloved hand and clenched it tight, as if trying to crush something in her fist. A strange sense of recognition filled Billie upon seeing the gesture, but she didn’t have time to register the thought before Emily disappeared in front of her. A haze like the air above a campfire shimmered in Emily’s wake.

“Over here!” Emily called. Billie wheeled around and spotted Emily at the far end of the ship, waving. A second later, Emily had returned to her original spot, hair windblown and clothes damp but otherwise unscathed.

“I know this is going to sound crazy—” Emily began.

“The Outsider,” Billie interrupted. “He marked you.”

Emily’s face flickered in surprise. “How did you know that?”

“I’ve heard the stories,” Billie said.

Billie intended, even then, to tell Emily the truth about herself—about her role in Jessamine’s murder, about her secondhand experiences with the Outsider and the overwhelming burden of channeling his powers through Daud—but it was still much too early. They were headed toward Addermire Institute and Emily couldn’t afford the distraction.

“I see. Well, the stories are true.” Emily hesitated, then pulled off her glove and showed the mark to Billie. It gleamed menacingly on her skin. “I want you to know, Meagan, that I wouldn’t have accepted the mark if it weren’t for my father. I just have to stop Delilah, no matter the cost.”

“I understand,” Billie said. “I wasn’t passing judgment.”

After that, Emily spent most of her free time practicing her new powers, flitting across the ship or summoning objects toward her with a clawed hand. One evening, Billie thought she spied a shadowy figure crawling across the floor, but it was gone before she could focus on it.

Once Alexandria Hypatia joined them on the _Dreadful Wale_ , Emily was more cautious about using her powers openly. Hypatia’s alter ego had seen Emily use them, Emily confessed one night after the doctor had gone to bed, but Hypatia had no memory of it.

“I don’t want word getting out about this,” Emily whispered, staring into her glass of whisky. “About what I can do.” Her face and arms were covered in scratches and bruises. Emily had not talked much about what had happened at Addermire, but it was clear her fight with the Crown Killer had been brutal.

Billie sipped from her own glass. “It makes sense. We don’t want Kirin Jindosh to know you’re coming, but he if does find out, we definitely don’t want him to prepare for an empress with magical powers.”

Emily laughed humorlessly. “From what I’ve heard of Jindosh, he probably already has.”

Knowing that Emily was marked when no one else did made Billie feel curiously close to the empress. She understood that Emily’s confiding in her was likely just a matter of convenience—who else was there for her to confide in?—but it had been a long time since Billie had felt like someone’s friend.

The _Dreadful Wale_ was crowded the night before Emily was to travel to the Grand Palace and dispatch Luca Abele. After hours of discussing their plan of action in the night air, Aramis Stilton retired to Hypatia’s old room, while Sokolov returned to his bed in the back of the ship.

“You should get some rest,” Billie told Emily.

The empress was perched on a chair beside Billie’s, gazing at the maps and blueprints sprawled out on the table. She had set a stack of books on the papers to keep them from blowing away. “I’m not sure I would be able to fall asleep,” she admitted.

“Are you worried about tomorrow?” Billie asked.

Emily sighed, tracing a finger over a map of Serkonos. “I suppose I am. I’m mostly concerned about Delilah. This is all taking so much time. Who knows what she might have done to Dunwall while I’ve been gone?”

Billie hummed. “You actually care about Dunwall, don’t you?”

The question took them both by surprise.

“Of course, I care. Dunwall is my home.” Emily gazed out into the placid sea. “I care about its people, too, if that’s what you mean. I used to sneak out at night, pretend to be someone else. I got to know the city and its inhabitants _very_ well.” Her dark eyes flicked to Billie’s. “I know what you’re going to say. It doesn’t count because I could always go back to Dunwall Tower.” She sighed. “And you might be right about that.”

Emily was voicing the exact thoughts Billie had had so many times, but suddenly, all Billie wanted to do was refute them.

“I’ll admit that I was wary of you, at first,” Billie said finally. “I guess I haven’t made my disdain for the upper classes a secret.”

Emily laughed. “No, you haven’t. But I understand.”

“I’m still sorry,” Billie said. “Well, maybe not sorry. I’m still pretty skeptical about most of you. But I can see that you really do care. If Dunwall has to have an empress, I’m not upset that it’s you.”

Emily smiled. She gazed at Billie with a question in her eyes, but Billie was neither sure what the question was nor how to respond to it. A second later, Emily seemed to find her answer. She bent toward Billie and kissed her gently. It was a short kiss, over before either of them knew it. Emily smelled faintly of perfume and earth. They separated, and Billie had to stop herself from reaching out to keep Emily near.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Emily said, biting her lip. “I’m sorry.”

Billie stared at her, stunned. “No. I liked it.”

“It’s not that,” Emily said softly, looking away. “I shouldn’t have done that because… I already have someone. Their name is Wyman.”

“Oh.” Billie cleared her throat. Emily had never mentioned Wyman before, but Billie had seen her furtively reading letters by lamplight late at night.

“Or at least, I think I have someone. Everything has become so confusing lately.” Emily swallowed. “I've changed. I’m worried that Wyman won’t like what they see when we meet again. I’m also worried that I won’t be content to be with a noble after all of this. I… I’ve been thinking about what kind of empress I need to be.” She looked back at Billie. “I'm sorry. I really do like you, Meagan.”

Billie stood up, heart pounding. Hearing that name on Emily’s lips hurt more than the rejection. “You should get some sleep, Emily.”

Emily looked at Billie in confusion, then nodded miserably. “You’re right. Goodnight, Meagan.”

She stood and flickered away before Billie could respond.

Billie wasn’t sure if it was because of the kiss, but Emily did not kill her when she finally learned the truth.

“I can’t ever forgive you for what you did,” the empress said, eyes glinting like iron in the thick smog of Dunwall, “but suffering has a way of twisting people. You’re a different woman today than you were then. Goodbye, Billie.”

With Billie's name like venom on her tongue, Emily left for Dunwall Tower alone. Billie let her go without protest. Her heart ached, but it was better than being dead.

Months later, a generous sum of money was sent to Billie. There was no card or letter attached, but after turning the parcel around in her hands, Billie spotted the carefully inked image of the imperial insignia, the same design on Emily’s ring.

Billie started writing several letters. She sent none of them.

_Your Imperial Highness,  
Thank you for the gift. While your generosity is_

_To Empress Emily Kaldwin,  
I don't want your coin_

_Lady Emily,  
I can't take your coin after what I did. I'm trying to find a way to make peace_

_Dear Emily,  
I wish_

Later still, fresh out of the Void with the smell of petrichor lingering on their skin, Billie and the blinking ex-god sat on wooden crates at the entrance to the Shindaery Mine. At first, they simply rested, sitting peacefully in the quiet. After a few minutes, Billie reached into her bag for a piece of paper and a pen.

“What are you doing?” the Outsider asked curiously. It must have been so strange for him, Billie thought, not to know.

Billie began the shape of the letter _E_. “I’m writing to an old friend.”


End file.
